Rental Company Settles Spyware Case

The Federal Trade Commission says Atlanta-based furniture renter Aaron's Inc. has agreed to a settlement over allegations that it helped place spyware on computers that secretly monitored consumers by taking webcam pictures of them in their homes.

The FTC said in a Tuesday news release that Aaron's will be prohibited from using spyware that captures screenshots or activates the camera on a consumer's computer, except to provide requested technical support.

Aaron's officials previously blamed individual franchisees for the spyware. But the FTC said Aaron's knowingly played a direct role in the use of the spyware. (more)

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Yet Another Good Reason to Conduct TSCM Sweeps

Police have arrested eight men in connection with a £1.3m theft by a gang who remotely took control of the computer system of a Barclays bank branch.

A man posing as an IT engineer gained access to the Swiss Cottage branch in north London on 4 April, fitting a keyboard video mouse (KVM) device, which enabled the gang to remotely transfer funds to bank accounts under its control. (more)

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Ex-Sheriff Pleads Guilty to Wiretapping

WV - Former Clay County Sheriff Miles Slack pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge that he hacked his wife’s work computer.

Slack entered the plea to a wiretapping charge Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Charleston. He faces up to five years in prison. Sentencing was set for Dec. 19.

The government said Slack secretly installed a keystroke logger on a computer in the Clay County Magistrate Court office in April where his wife worked. They were married at the time but have since divorced.

Spyware devices can be purchased online and typically are 1-2 inches long and attached to the keyboard cable. Once installed, they can intercept anything typed on that keyboard. (more)

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Alerts sent in by our Blue Blaze Irregulars this week...

• "Time to take the glue gun to your USB ports." Data exfiltration using a USB keyboard. 

• "Dust off your information security policy (or start putting one in place…)" Do you have a comprehensive information security program? Many businesses are still operating without one, leaving them open to preventable data breaches.
 
• "Enough already: encrypt those portable devices" The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had reached a settlement with a cord blood bank in respect of the loss of nearly 300,000 customers’ personal information. ...The information had been stored on unencrypted backup tapes, an external hard drive and a laptop that were stolen from a backpack left in an employee’s car.

• “This call may be recorded” - Ninth Circuit says disclaimer not always necessary. But it’s still a good idea! 

• "Man cleared of spying on his wife via computer software..." His attorney argued that prosecutors could not prove why Ciccarone used the software.

• "Nestlégate" Court convicts Nestle of "spying" on Swiss activists. (vintage commercial)

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Van Eck Grown Up - Time to look at eavesdropping on computer emissions again.

1985 - Van Eck phreaking is the process of eavesdropping on the contents of a CRT or LCD display by detecting its electromagnetic emissions. It is named after Dutch computer researcher Wim van Eck, who in 1985 published the first paper on it, including proof of concept.[1] Phreaking is the process of exploiting telephone networks, used here because of its connection to eavesdropping.

2009 - A simple experiment showing how to intercept computer keyboard emissions. 

It is notable that there is: 
• no connection to the Internet; 
• no connection to power lines (battery operation); 
• no computer screen in use (eliminates the screen emissions possibility); 
• and no wireless keyboard or mouse. 
Intercepted emissions are solely from the hard-wired keyboard.

The interception antenna is located about one meter away. (This is why we look for antenna wires under desks, and metal parts on desks to which wiring is attached.) 
(video 1) (video 2)

The point is, if one can get an antenna withing close proximity of your computer, what you type belongs to them.
 
December 2012 - Not satisfied with pulling information from your keyboard, injecting information becomes a concern (pay attention investment firms).

"The roughly half-dozen objectives of the Tactical Electromagnetic Cyber Warfare Demonstrator program are classified, but the source said the program is designed to demonstrate ready-made boxes that can perform a variety of tasks, including inserting and extracting data from sealed, wired networks.

Being able to jump the gap provides all kinds of opportunities, since an operator (spy) doesn’t need to compromise the physical security of a facility to reach networks not connected to the Internet. Proximity remains an issue, experts said, but if a vehicle can be brought within range of a network, both insertion and eavesdropping are possible." (more)

2013 is going to be an interesting year. ~Kevin

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Computer Anti-Virus King Becomes a Spy?!?! ...you decide.

Remember John McAfee? ...the man who, just weeks ago, went on the run from Belize after his neighbor was found murdered, claiming that the police wanted to kill him and frame him for the murder. 

He fled to Guatamala,...arrived in the US shortly after, and now he’s pecking out his tell-all tale via his blog, where he describes himself as the head of his own private spy operation.

According to the post he... purchased 75 laptops, loaded them with “invisible keystroke logging software,” packaged them back up so none would be the wiser, and gave them away to those in positions of power: law enforcement, government employees, etc. The software then sent McAfee text files of what was typed, and he soon had access to a variety of social media and email accounts.

Soon after, he amassed 23 women and six men whom he calls his operatives; eight of the women, he said, were so accomplished at their missions that they ended up living with him...

Of course, it’s important to remember some things: McAfee is known to be involved in drugs, even having had his place in Belize raided at one point on suspicion of meth manufacturing. (more)

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